Tag: Historic Fiction

Book Challenges, Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading, Reading Challenges

Review: Soulless (Parasol Protectorate #1) by Gail Carriger

by The Lit Bitch26 Comments on Review: Soulless (Parasol Protectorate #1) by Gail Carriger

I am pleased to say that I have finished my first book for one of my reading challenges and the first day of 2011 is barely over!

The 2011 Steampunk Reading Challenge hosted by Bookish Ardour kicked off 1/1/11 and I started reading Soulless by Gail Carriger in the wee hours of 2011 simply because I was not tired and thought there is no time like the present when it comes to New Years resolutions!

The 2011 Steampunk Challenge intrigued me because of course I am a huge fan of all things Victorian and Gothic but had never really gotten into the other sub-genres such as Steampunk. For those of you who don’t know what Steampunk is check out The Steampunk Age website, they have lots of useful info about the genre. I like that the genre has many of the same elements that Gothic Literature does so when I saw one of my fav blogs, Bookish Ardour, was hosting this challenge I could’t resist!

The first thing that drew my to Soulless was the cover, I’m not gonna lie I think a well designed cover makes books more eye catching and this cover style is right up my alley. I wasn’t sure what to expect as this book is generally considered pararomance not just steampunk, but I was so caught up in the book I could hardly put it down! In short, it was AMAZING!

The story is set in early 19th century London and the protagonist is a 26 year old spinster named Alexia Tarabotti. Here is a description from Shelfari: Continue reading “Review: Soulless (Parasol Protectorate #1) by Gail Carriger” →

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading, Reading Challenges

Review: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

by The Lit Bitch17 Comments on Review: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

I went out on a high note when I finished my last book of 2010 last night and so I now write my last book review of 2010.

The timeless novel Gone with the Wind was written by Margret Mitchell in 1936 and won the Pulitzer Prize for the novel in 1937. In 1939 the epic romantic was made into a film, one of the first in color if I recall.

GWTW maintains its appeal even in today’s society, at my ‘day job’ one of the history teachers shows this film to her class when they are done studying the period and the kids are all TOTALLY into and don’t talk through it at all!

The novel it self can be intimidating because of it’s length. My sister bought me the book last year for Christmas and the pocket paperback copy was 1200 pages and HUGE!  I promised I would read it at some point during the year but ultimately decided to buy it on my iPad since I didn’t want to struggle with the bulky book.

I am so glad I decided to stat this book and even though it took me about 2 weeks to read, it was SO WORTH IT! Everyone should read this book at least one time in their life! Continue reading “Review: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell” →

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Gen Lit, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Drood by Dan Simmons

by The Lit Bitch5 Comments on Review: Drood by Dan Simmons

I recently picked up this book (Drood by Dan Simmons) in anticipation for Halloween. I wanted to read something that was scary and suspenseful with a historic Victorian London flair. This book started as a generally promising suspense/horror story but ended up being a huge disappointment. I’ll admit when I first started it I was completely hooked and into it but sadly as the weeks went by I had to force myself to finish it.

The book is written from the famous English author Wilkie Collins (famous works include The Woman in White and The Moonstone) perspective. Collins often collaborated with the famous Charles Dickens in real life. The witty humor which the Collin’s character brings to the novel is great, I often found myself LOL-ing all over the place and I especially loved the ‘Other Wilkie’ interaction (or lack there of) throughout the novel.

Simmons definitely nailed the Victorian writing style which added a sense of authenticity to the story as his sentences were long, wordy, and with a flair for the eccentric. He also seemed to really ‘get’ Collins’ character and used lots of Gothic fiction elements (ghosts, psychological breakdown, impending doom, drug use etc).

Simmons does a fantastic job recreating a gritty, dirty, creepy, horrifying turn of the century London. When Dickens and Collins venture out into the city slums looking for Drood, the imagery and description is by far one of the best I have read. I really felt like I was there walking right a long side Collins. The suspense and psychological cluster (*(^ that follows though it a little hard to sort out. Continue reading “Review: Drood by Dan Simmons” →